Gluten Free Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake

This moist and chocolaty gluten-free chocolate raspberry layer cake is the ultimate birthday cake! Lots of layers, raspberry and sweet chocolate buttercream frosting! It doesn’t get any better than this.

It is still birthday month in our house, just about everyone has a summer birthday! That means lots of cake like this gluten-free chocolate raspberry layer cake. Everyone has wanted something different. You will remember my daughter’s Gluten Free Lemon Layer Cake, we even got to use fresh lemons from our lemon tree.

My son’s cake still needs to be written up for the blog! He wanted a moist vanilla cake. I used the recipe in this Gluten Free Raspberry Bundt Cake as the foundation for his cake (minus the raspberries!)

Then it was Mr. Fearless Dining’s turn…he wanted chocolate and raspberries. I couldn’t wait to share this easy chocolate layer cake recipe with you. Please remember that I am not a professional cake decorator, and I usually learn the hard way so don’t forget to read down to see my frosting tips.

This chocolate cake is pretty incredible…I think part of the success is because I found a seedless raspberry jam. It really made all of the difference because you get all of the fresh raspberry flavor with no crunch from seeds!

(And don’t get too bored because Mr. Fearless Dining ended up with two birthday parties this year, and two different cakes!! Stay tuned for this incredible gluten-free carrot layer cake with cream cheese frosting recipe. (His mom picked that flavor LOL. This picture is a preview. I tried to keep the calories down by cutting the sugar and keeping the sides of the cake naked.)

Overall, we had a great birthday party for Mr. Fearless Dining, the chocolate raspberry cake was a huge hit with not only the gluten-free crowd, but all of our non-gluten free foodies as well. I didn’t get the pretty pictures of the cake sliced up. There were too many fingers and forks trying to dive into the cake after we sang “Happy Birthday”. My friends all laughed when I geeked out to take this one shot.

You may not need a cake quite this large. This gluten-free chocolate layer cake has three giant layers. I had about 18 people over for the party, so I went all out to make this cake extra-large!

Cake Baking Mistakes aka Bloopers!

Here is where I tell you what not to do. First, my cake cracked. I am not quite sure why, it was baked at 350 degrees. In hindsight, I wish I cut the top off to take some of the bulge off each layer. Second, I put the jam layer before the buttercream layer. That made it really hard to spread the buttercream because it was a lot thicker.

How to do it the right way:

1. Cut the domed top off each cake layer so the cake has a flat top.
2. Add the frosting, then add the jam on top. It will spread a LOT easier this way. The jam made it all slippery!

Here is a close-up of that chocolate buttercream frosting. It was thick and creamy, yet was really easy to spread once I learned to do that layer first.

Are you ready to make this cake?

(*Please note this post has affiliate links. Ordering through my site will not change the price you pay. A tiny commission will come to Fearless Dining to help offset the cost of running this blog. I truly appreciate the support.)

Things You Need to Make This Recipe:

1. A mixer certainly makes this cake and frosting much easier to make!!
2. My favorite gluten-free flour blend keeps this cake fluffy and light.
3. I used three big cake pans like these. If you only have two, just reuse one to make that third layer.

4.8 from 5 votes

Print

Gluten Free Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Easy chocolate and raspberry layer cake with a creamy buttercream frosting.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 20 slices

Calories: 415 kcal

Author: Sandi Gaertner

Ingredients

• 2 cups gluten free flour blend
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 box chocolate pudding I used the cook one
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 1/4 cups almond milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 ounces raspberry jam FROSTING
• 4 cups powdered sugar FROSTING
• 16 tablespoons softened butter FROSTING
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder FROSTING
• 1 teaspoon vanilla FROSTING
• 1/4 cup almond milk FROSTING
• 1 cup fresh raspberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add egg, vanilla, almond milk, coconut oil, hot water to a mixer and mix on low until it is all blended. 

3. Turn the mixer off and add sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix.

4. Gradually add the flour in small increments. Turn the blender off when you add more and mix on low. 

5. Grease layer cake pans with coconut oil and pour in cake batter about 3/4 the way to the top.

6. Bake for 30 minutes or until done.

7. Remove the cakes from the oven and dump out of the pans onto a cooling rack. 

8. To Make Frosting: In a mixer, add powdered sugar, cocoa, softened butter, vanilla, and almond milk. Mix up until it is creamy like frosting.

9. When the cakes are cool, use a knife to remove any domed surface so the top of each layer is flat.

10. Add chocolate cream and frost the first layer. Add some raspberry jam and spread it out over the frosting.

11. Add the next cake layer and repeat the process.

12. When you get to the top layer, skip the raspberry. Frost the top layer and sides with the chocolate buttercream frosting. 

13. Put the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes minimum to chill.

14. Top with fresh raspberries.

More Yummy Gluten Free Cakes to Try!